Replacing a wooden balcony door with a plastic one is popular and very effective method make your home more comfortable and warm. But all PVC structures have one feature: even the most quality windows and the doors have to be adjusted at certain intervals. If you feel that something is wrong with your door, do not rush to the phone in a panic to call an ambulance in the form of a team of locksmiths. If you carefully study the instructions, adjusting plastic balcony doors is not difficult.

When should the door be adjusted?

Adjustment of a PVC balcony door should be carried out immediately if:

• you have to use excessive force to open the door;
• when closing, the door leaf clings to the door frame;
• the lock handle is difficult to turn or, conversely, is too loose;
• when the lock is open, the door does not stay closed;
• even tight closed door misses cold air outside.

All these signs are, so to speak, critical. They indicate that the door is already in disrepair. It is possible that in this case, simple adjustment will not solve the problem and some parts will have to be repaired or replaced. This can be avoided if you adjust the plastic balcony doors yourself and do it in a timely manner. Here are some ways helping to identify subtle violations in position door leaf :

1. Open the balcony door slightly and leave it in that position. If it spontaneously tends to slam or open (of course, in the absence of wind or drafts), it’s time to start tuning.
2. Take a simple pencil in your hands and take a position on the side opposite to the side of the door opening. After closing the door, outline its perimeter using the edge of the door frame as a ruler. Now open the door and take a close look at your own art. If the lines you drew are parallel to the edges of the door leaf, then everything is in order. If not, then there is a slight misalignment and it’s time to prepare the tools.
3. Take notebook sheet or a fragment of a newspaper page and slam the balcony door so that the paper is caught between it. Now try to remove the sheet, paying attention to the force you had to apply to do this. Thus it is necessary to check the tightness of the pressure along the entire perimeter of the door. Ideally, the force with which you had to pull out the paper will always be the same. If on different areas the door perimeter, the sheet is pressed unevenly, which means it is necessary to adjust the pressure.

Self-adjustment PVC balcony door should also be performed with the arrival of cold weather or, conversely, with warming: in the first case, the door pressure is strengthened, in the second, it is weakened.

Tip: Loosen the pressure in spring and summer should definitely, because when closed tightly (winter mode) some parts door block wear out faster.

Instructions for adjusting a plastic door

The first thing you should worry about is the availability of such tools:

- screwdrivers with Phillips and flat profile;

- pliers;

— a set of hex keys (for some models you will need keys with an asterisk profile);

— PVC gaskets;

The design of door fastening units in PVC door blocks provides the possibility adjusting its position in three directions:

— horizontally (the gap between the door leaf and the hinge post is adjusted at the top, bottom or along the entire height);

— vertically (the height of the door hanger relative to the door frame changes);

— frontally (the density of pressing the door to the sealing elements of the doorway is adjusted).

The adjustment screws can be accessed by removing the decorative panel with the door open (use a 3 mm hexagon).

Let's look at all three adjustment options in more detail.

Horizontal direction

The movement of the door leaf to the right or left (toward or away from the hinge post) is controlled by a long adjusting screw located horizontally under the decorative trim. If the door when closing clings to the box from the latch side in the middle part or along the entire height, the screws should be turned clockwise one or two turns in all three hinges. If the lower edge of the canvas farthest from the hinges touches the threshold, you only need to tighten the screws in the upper and middle hinges.

Vertical direction

The vertical adjustment screw on the hinge is responsible for moving the door down (turning the screw counterclockwise) or up (clockwise). Such adjustment is resorted to in the case when if the bottom edge of the door rubs against the threshold when closing or opening or it closes normally, but Dents are visible on the upper or lower seals. Use a 5mm hex socket to rotate the screws. The same key, but 2.5 mm, will be needed to adjust the position of the strikers at the top and bottom of the door frame. For this operation, in addition to the hexagon, you will need a flat-head screwdriver. The main locking bar will also have to be moved using a Phillips screwdriver.

Front direction (pressure adjustment)

Before adjusting the plastic balcony door, it is important to know that the pressing density of the door to the frame is various models regulated in different ways:

1. At the vertical end of the door, on the side opposite the hinges, there may be three eccentrics that must be turned using the appropriate tool.
2. On some models door fittings There is a pin that must be turned using pliers. For maximum pressure it should be given a direction perpendicular to the plane of the door block, for minimum pressure it should be given a direction parallel to it.
3. Sometimes the clamp can be adjusted by frontal displacement of the strike plate. For this purpose, there is a hex head screw under the bar.

Adjusting screws cannot always save the situation. It happens that a defect exists, but the corresponding screw is already in its extreme position. In this case, use another method of adjusting a door with double glazed windows. Carefully prying it with a chisel, you need to remove the glazing beads holding the glass unit. Then, using special blades, PVC gaskets are installed between the glass unit and the plastic in the right places (depending on what defect needs to be corrected). By correctly selecting the location of the gaskets and their thickness, you can change the geometry of the door and thus eliminate the distortion. When installing glazing beads in place, they should be carefully tapped with a rubberized hammer.

Tip: When removing glazing beads, mark them so that you can then install each one exactly in its place. Often for fixing a double-glazed window with internal and outside Manufacturers use different types of glazing beads.

For pens plastic doors There are two problems:

1. The handle is difficult to turn or does not turn completely

Most often, this problem is caused by the incorrect position of the door leaf and after adjusting it using one of the methods described above, the lock mechanism should work properly. If the adjustment does not help, the lock will have to be replaced.

2. The handle is loose

If the trim installed where the handle is attached to the door is rotated 90 degrees, access to two screws will open. By tightening them with a Phillips screwdriver, you will correct the defect.

Replacing the seal

If the door is used skewed for a long time, it may become deformed. In this case, it must be replaced with a new one having a similar cross-sectional shape. The old seal is removed from the groove using a screwdriver, which is then cleaned of dirt and glue residues. When installing a new seal, make sure that it is not under tension. Before installing the profile, the groove must be coated with glue, especially in those places where the ends of the seal will be located.

Prevention

In order for the plastic balcony door to last longer without adjustment, equip it with two very useful devices: microlift and opening limiter. The microlift supports the weight of the door in the closed position, preventing it from sagging. The opening limiter prevents the hinges from becoming loose when the door rests against the jamb (when fully swinging open).

You should not hang bags with heavy contents on the door handle (especially an open one). The plastic door itself is heavy and additional weight can lead to rapid sagging.

Periodic lubrication with a silicone compound will help extend the life of the seal and make it more flexible and susceptible to deformation.

Don't forget to lubricate the lock regularly, too. If its handle is difficult to turn, users begin to put pressure on it (and at the same time on the door) with all their weight, while strongly pulling the door towards themselves. Under such conditions, distortion is inevitable.

Adjusting plastic balcony doors video

In this section, we invite you to watch a video on the topic of our article “Adjusting plastic balcony doors: instructions for setting it up yourself.” You will see how the procedures we described above are performed in practice.

Reading time ≈ 7 minutes

In most cases, adjustment of the inputs is not necessary, but this is only while they are new. After a few years, the canvas sags under its own weight and needs to be adjusted. You can do this yourself, and the instructions are below, but first make sure that there is really a need for this. In case of problems, the door may not fit well against the hinged frame, may dangle, or there will be a draft from there, which is very easy to determine by simply placing your palm.

What can be determined

First of all, you need to determine the nature of the malfunction:

• Sagging of the canvas. In such a situation, the door will click against the threshold and in order to close it, you need to lift it by the handle (such mechanical force affects the locking valve).
• The handle is loose. This occurs either from the actions indicated above, or due to low-quality fittings (most often).
• The canvas scratches against the frame. There is a problem with the top and middle canopy - they have moved away from the impost. In such situations bottom loop, as a rule, holds up well.
• Draft from junction areas. At first glance, everything may seem normal, but there is a gap between the leaf and the frame, and the gap may not be visually noticeable, so adjusting the plastic door is simply necessary.
• Another reason for the draft. These could be seals - if the rubber is of poor quality, then it wears off and this can even be determined visually.

Another problematic feature is double-glazed windows - it happens rarely, but it does happen. You may notice that it is fogging up, and if this is the case, then you won’t be able to do anything yourself - contact the company that did the installation.

Usually a balcony door is balcony block, but since you looked at it during installation, you will have to force the manufacturer to correct the error.

Replacing a hinge on a plastic door - quickly and easily

Adjusting the hinges

This way you can check whether the canvas is adjacent to the box.

Even if there is no scrape of the canvas against the box, there may be problems - it may happen that the lock does not work, and this is already a distortion. The size of the rebate is approximately 20 mm (it varies), so the shift may not be noticeable visually, but you can check it with an ordinary sheet of paper by testing it by pressing it. It still won’t bite tightly, since the elastic band will soften it, but you can tell. This can also be done “by eye” - the seal should rest against the profile without any gaps. But don’t hesitate to check – .

Adjustment principles

There are adjusting bolts on the box that can move the blade and here you will need a 4 mm, 5 mm or 6 mm hexagon. In addition, there may be a bolt with a 6mm head, so anything can happen here, depending on the company, the supplier and his conscience. You can watch the instructions with a video for adjusting the entrance plastic doors yourself, but I’ll say right away that they are all different and it’s not true that there are certain type awnings are a lie. I can say this with a clear conscience, since I have been doing repairs for more than 20 years! Even the famous Rehau and Winbau will deceive you - you need to check everything yourself, only this way and no other way! There are hinges (canopies) Rota, Reze, KTW and so on, but the mounting holes may vary in size and distance, so be careful.

This is Reze with and without the decorative cover removed

When you remove the decorative cover on the overhead hinge, you will get to the screws with which you can independently adjust the plastic entrance door (there will be video instructions below). If the canvas is sagging, then you need to use a hexagon or open-end wrench (it varies) to tighten all the hinges, starting from the top, but the top one is a little larger, then the middle one, and sometimes the bottom one is not touched at all. When you do this, the distortion will go away and everything will fall into place. But I want to remind you again that canopies are different, so you need to select the tool depending on the situation.

For some hinges, the adjusting bolt is fixed with a plastic washer with antennae - it is not twisted, but simply removed after the decorative trim, but again, it all depends on the manufacturer.

Unscrew this bolt to remove the cover

Note. To remove the decorative trim, you need to open the door and unscrew the bolt, as in the photo above, but this may not be the case for all doors - sometimes it can be removed without such a procedure.

Adjustment of the entrance door on the sides and in height

You can also do it with the adjusting screw, which is located on the side, but to do this you will have to remove the decorative cover (it can be removed very easily - you just need to pry it off with a knife or screwdriver). All canvases have a clamp or pin on the side, on the opposite side of the hinges - this is something resembling a bolt in a vertical groove, and in the case when it is in the middle, this is the factory position, but over time it needs to be either raised up or lowered down.

Adjusting winter and summer modes

With some manufacturers this can be done with a hex wrench, and with some simply with pliers - try turning them half a turn in one direction or the other and this way you can strengthen or loosen the connection to the rubber seals on the door frame. Length of winter and summer mode Most plastic doors, and windows too, have a pin in the middle of the leaf on which there is a mark and with a hexagon it can be turned either towards the street (winter) or towards the room (summer). During manufacture, it is usually lowered down.

Adjustment of winter and summer mode.

Replacing overhead hinges at the front door can be done in just a few minutes, but first take the dimensions from the mounting holes for fasteners, as they may not match and you will have to re-drill the plastic together metal profile, and this is not advisable.

Sheds under the lid usually have four screws, but there may be six, so you can take the canopy with you when purchasing so as not to make a mistake, but it is best to purchase such fittings at the place where your door was made.

What can be done with the lock and bolts

The strike plate must be in place

Sometimes the locking is poor due to the striker being misaligned, but this can be corrected by moving it to the right or left so that it lines up exactly with the lock tongue. You can check this by closing the door and trying to turn it with your hand - when it is in place, the handle will turn very easily. In fact, such a design should behave in all respects without any scratches or forces when pressing - if this is detected, then the cause must be eliminated immediately. The canvas can also sag if it is screwed down and you need to tighten all the bolts and screws on the hinges.

If you want to change the lock, do not rush to buy a new one, as the reason may be simple - it needs to be lubricated machine oil, pouring it from an oil can into the keyhole in sufficient quantity. Sometimes the problem occurs when severe frosts— the key does not turn, but if steel door You can simply heat it with an open fire, but you can’t heat a plastic one like that, but you can eliminate this without using oil. To prevent the door from freezing in winter, you need to take care of it in the summer - you need a door above it that will protect it from precipitation.

Conclusion

For self-adjustment for plastic entrance doors, read these instructions carefully and look at all photos and video materials. As I already said, no two fittings are exactly alike. Therefore, what is correct for one case will be incorrect for another and a third.

As a rule, metal-plastic doors have increased reliability and stability; they do not require regular adjustment, however, an annual inspection by a specialist once a year will not be superfluous. Therefore, even if you see no apparent reason to call a specialist, preventive maintenance should be done once a year in the proper manner.

Example of front adjustment of a plastic door

Most common faults

When using plastic doors, the following malfunctions can often occur, which cause a lot of unpleasant sensations during operation:

The malfunctions listed above can be corrected on your own, even without the help of a specialist. To do this, you will need a small set of tools and the desire to fix the balcony door or entrance group.

To adjust a metal-plastic door, you will need a 4 mm hex key.

Existing options for adjusting a metal-plastic door

As a rule, all manufacturers door hinges and other accessories are guided precisely by these dimensions for ease of use.

Adjust yourself plastic doors possible by following the following procedure:

Thus, you can answer the simple question of how to adjust a metal-plastic balcony or entrance door. The video shows how to adjust a plastic door.

Door adjustment information

To get rid of door sagging yourself, you should consider some points regarding adjustment information, namely:

Taking into account all this information, you can perform the procedure for adjusting the structure yourself without resorting to the help of specialists.

Vertical work

The most popular malfunction of plastic interior and entrance doors hidden in their weight and corresponding sag, in this case it is necessary to carry out the correct vertical adjustment:

Instructions for adjusting hinges vertically

It is worth noting that for the best effect, the same procedure should be done with the balcony door, in other words, when attracting the leaves to vertical rack, it is advisable to maintain the load on the loop with additional adjustment from below.

If there are problems with door pressing, it is impossible to get rid of such problems using vertical adjustment. To do this, you need to turn the screws on the strike plate and move it slightly deeper relative to its current position.

Scheme for setting up sash pressure

Pressure adjustment is carried out using a screw located in the middle of the striker on the side of the door opposite the hinges. In this case, the adjustment door hinge is optional, since it does not directly affect the pressing of the sash to the frame.

Do-it-yourself adjustment of balcony and interior plastic doors is a set of actions aimed at eliminating problems that arose when handling PVC (polyvinyl chloride) structures.

No matter how expensive plastic construction installed in the room, as well as how high-quality the fittings are, sooner or later a situation may arise in which it is required. This can happen either the next day after the installation of the plastic structure, or 10 years after that.

In a situation where the owner of the premises in which it is installed, or another person does not want to seek help from specialists in this industry. He has the ability to independently adjust the plastic doors. When handling the door structure, he must be aware of the following issues:

• in what places of the door mechanism are the units intended for adjusting the plastic door located;
• problems that may arise when handling a plastic door and ways to resolve them;
• adjusting GreenteQ door hinges.

Elements of adjustment of a plastic door, common operating problems and methods for eliminating them

We bring to your attention a training video:

Adjusting plastic doors with your own hands - eliminating common problems

Do-it-yourself adjustment of plastic doors

Plastic steel doors a worthy alternative wooden and external design, both in cost and durability. To ensure high durability, it should be remembered that any mechanism needs periodic adjustment, so adjusting plastic doors is a mandatory procedure. Next, we will look in detail at how to adjust a plastic door yourself, using a minimal set of tools.

Adjusting a plastic door is a very real task.

Before adjusting the doors yourself, study the documents for the purchased product. Firstly, there may be detailed instructions on setting up this particular model, and secondly, you should make sure that the warranty has already expired, because if the door is under warranty, then one call is enough, and it will be set up for you.

Setting up entrance and interior plastic doors with your own hands differs from adjusting plastic ones balcony structures. This is caused by several reasons:

• Plastic thickness and profile configuration for balcony and interior doors different. By the way, the design of entrance and interior doors is almost the same, so adjusting a plastic entrance door is done in the same way as adjusting an interior door.
• The adjustment of plastic entrance doors is mainly carried out by adjusting the hinges, and additional fittings and handles are involved in the adjustment of balcony doors.
• A balcony door is often equipped with a folding ventilation mechanism, which is also adjustable, while its entrance and interior counterparts do not have a folding ventilation mechanism at all.
• How to adjust plastic doors is largely influenced by the weight of the structure. Often, a balcony door is almost half the weight, which means there are fewer adjustment and locking screws in the design.

How to properly adjust a plastic balcony door is written in detail with examples and explanations. If your plastic balcony door is completely jammed, then there is information about the causes of the breakdown and methods of repair.

When to adjust doors

Any, even the most expensive and beautiful plastic door, sooner or later needs adjustment. The need for periodic adjustment is caused by the following reasons:

• The building itself may sink. In this case, the box warps slightly.
• Problems may be caused by incorrect installation. Here the errors will appear within a month. As a rule, the door closes tightly or poorly.
• Incorrect or intensive use. Often this requires adjusting the hinges and replacing the seal.
• Doors can sag under their own weight. Here the hinges are also tightened in height, plus sometimes the pressure of the plastic door needs to be adjusted.

Before adjusting a plastic door, you need to diagnose it. This will give a clear understanding of which node needs to be configured.

First of all, inspect the door leaf and the receiving frame around the perimeter. Minor abrasions indicate that the door has sagged. Immediately mark these places with a pencil.

If you notice that it has begun to leak through the doors, it means that there is a gap somewhere along the perimeter of the canvas. It is useless to examine the clamp with a lit candle in plastic doors; the flame will begin to fluctuate only if there is a very large gap, while small cracks are covered with a seal, and the candle does not react to them.

The sagging area can be identified using a sheet of paper. You need to insert a sheet of paper between the frame and the door leaf, then close the doors and try to pull the paper out. If the pressure is good, the paper will sit tightly, but if the pressure is poor, you will pull out the sheet freely. This way the entire perimeter is examined.

It happens that the door clamp has absolutely nothing to do with it, the rubber seal is simply worn out or damaged in some area. In this case, you must first replace the seal and then check the pressure.

To identify the curvature of the door leaf horizontally and vertically, you need to completely close the doors and trace the leaf along the contour with a simple pencil. Next, take a ruler and measure the distance from the drawn line to the edge of the box.

Vertically you need to measure at three or four points, horizontally at two or three points. Although sometimes without measurements, the naked eye can see where the doors have moved.

Not so often, but it still happens that the cause of problems with doors is the locks themselves, the strike and locking strips of the locks, as well as the latches and the door closer. Therefore, when diagnosing, we recommend disconnecting the closer first, and then checking the lock group. If everything is in order there, then you can begin checking according to the scheme described above, that is, looking for abrasions, checking the pressure with a paper sheet and outlining the outline of the canvas.

By the way, if you find out that the reason is in the closer, then information on setting it up can be found.

Technique for adjusting various components in plastic doors

It is impossible to say unequivocally how to adjust a plastic entrance door, because the fittings are produced by many companies, which means that its adjustment scheme may differ in each individual case. As already noted, if there are problems with closing the entrance doors and the locks are in order, then you need to look at the hinges.

If the doors are equipped with GreenteQ hinges

Regardless of which company manufactured the hinges, in all such mechanisms, plastic doors can be independently adjusted in three directions:

1. The door does not close tightly, that is, the clamp.
2. Vertical is when the door needs to be raised or lowered.
3. Horizontally - this is when it is necessary to pull the canvas to the right or left.

Door hinges from trademark GreenteQ is equipped with almost half of the plastic doors that exist today. Plus many competitors simply copy general principle the operation of this mechanism, so we will focus on it.

To get to the regulating system, you first need to remove three plastic plugs: on the top, bottom and side.

Next you need to remove the decorative trim itself. To do this, you need to open the door and unscrew the fixing screw, which is located on the inside of the hinge. In GreenteQ hinges, this screw is made for a Phillips screwdriver; there are also screws for a flat-head screwdriver and a thin hexagon.

The pressure on GreenteQ hinges is adjusted by the upper vertical eccentric. This mechanism located on the part of the hinge that is attached to the door leaf.

You need to insert a 4 mm hexagon into the eccentric and then turn it clockwise or counterclockwise. By rotating the hexagon, you can adjust the clamp by approximately 0.75 mm.

If a backlash of 0.75 mm does not suit you, for example, due to replacement rubber seal with a thicker one, then you can replace the gasket under the part of the hinge that is attached to the box. These gaskets are sold. The thickness ranges from 1 to 5 mm, in 1 mm increments.

The hinge spacer can have a thickness from 1 to 5 mm.

The horizontal mechanism of this model is adjusted with a side screw. The screw head is made for a 4 mm hexagon, and the screw itself is part of a horizontal structure. To adjust the hinge, you must first loosen the six mounting screws using a Phillips screwdriver. You don’t need to completely unscrew the screws, just loosen them slightly so that the mechanism moves.

To adjust the door leaf vertically, you need to tighten or loosen the bottom screw. It is noteworthy that the door, adjusted at the factory, lowers only 1 mm and rises 4 mm. This paradox is caused by the fact that the canvas often needs to be lifted, as it sags under its own weight.

Plastic doors – vertical adjustment of the door leaf.

After all the settings, the plastic door closes. decorative overlay, the internal screw is screwed in to secure this cover, and the plugs are installed last.

Setting up the hinges of the WX model

If GreenteQ type hinges are installed on both interior and entrance plastic doors, then the WX model hinges are more designed for heavy street doors, and they are installed not only on plastic, but also on aluminum structures.

The first to be removed are the decorative plugs from the bottom and top. They do not fit tightly; to remove such a plug, you just need to pry it off with a knife.

On the inside, next to the lid latch, there is another hexagon locking screw. It directly fixes the mechanism responsible for adjusting the door leaf horizontally. There is no need to unscrew this screw completely, just loosen it.

As a rule, the decorative protective cover in these models is not completely removed; it is only raised slightly. So, when you lift it, you will find an adjusting screw on the side; the doors are adjusted with this screw.

As the screw rotates, the doors will move to the right or left. The maximum stroke here is about 3 mm.

In the hinges of the WX model, you can still adjust the pressure. The mechanism itself is located in the second, mating part of the structure. To see it, you must first remove the cap. After this, also open the door and release the locking screw from inside the hinge.

This mechanism has another locking plug. It is installed on top and made with a hexagon. This plug is unscrewed and removed completely.

Now it's time to adjust the clamp. To do this, a key or some suitable device is inserted into special grooves, and the mechanism is turned. The key stroke is about 90º, the clamping value is +/- 1 mm.

Do not forget that the mechanisms are “delicate”. After adjustment, they must close and the locking screws must be tightened. Closing is performed in reverse order.

A few words about replacing the seal

In this case, the good news is that the window and door seals are almost the same, and most importantly, the replacement principle is no different. Manufacturers promise that door seal capable of standing for 5–7 years, but according to experienced craftsmen, maximum for rubber seal on doors does not exceed 2–3 years.

Remember, any plastic structure is equipped with several sealing circuits, and the configuration of each of these circuits is different, so it is advisable to take a complete set.

Example of a three-circuit seal for a plastic structure.

It is impossible to adjust the seal; to some extent you can extend its life by lubricating it with silicone, but nothing more. If the tires are worn out, then you only need to change them.

The replacement technology is extremely simple:

• Find the edge of the old seal and, prying it with something sharp, pull it out of the grooves.
• Next, use a knife or thin screwdriver to clean out the remaining glue and rubber from the groove.
• After this, use the same screwdriver or something similar to push the tongue of the new seal into the groove along the entire perimeter.
• To prevent the seal from being torn out of the groove during operation, it is placed on glue, but you need to act without fanaticism, we drip the glue pointwise, in increments of 50–100 mm, otherwise the next time you replace it you will get tired of cleaning the grooves.

Conclusion

If you figure it out, adjusting the entrance or interior plastic door through the hinges will not be difficult. It's much easier than setting up a balcony or window fittings. Adjustment of other types of doors with detailed photos and the video you can find.